


Where Stars are Born

by starsmylady



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, RIORDAN Rick - Works
Genre: Angst, Dysfunctional Family, Gen, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Pre-Exile Zoë, Sad Ending, Tragedy, a little fluff if you look hard enough
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:20:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27947444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starsmylady/pseuds/starsmylady
Summary: A star's life does not start as bright as we know it. Within its cycle, a star is born from darkness and chaos. Where the dance between darkness and light will always remain—the stars would not hold as much value without the darkness surrounding it.This is the story of Zoë Nightshade before we knew her as the lieutenant of the hunters; before she became the huntress.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 14





	Where Stars are Born

**Author's Note:**

> hiii!! this is my first time writing a fic so I am new to this. I hope you still enjoy it. 
> 
> this is how I imagined Zoë’s life before she joined the hunters. let’s go on with the story then

Light filled the drowsy grove, reflecting among the golden plump apples that hang from the branches of a massive tree. The harmonious whispers of the wind surrounds a sitting maiden in the finest of white cloth draped to her bodice. Her dark hair dances among the breeze with peace etched on her face.

Disturbed by a loud familiar hiss, the maiden finds for the source. “Ladon?” Only silence greeted her

“Come out now. Time is too precious for your little games”

Peaking through the dark ochre wood of the tree lay the giant hundred-headed dragon. The monster slowly slithered in the maiden’s direction. Its hundreds of eyes may look menacing to a stranger’s view, but to her it only means one thing. 

“You are hungry aren’t you?” then proceeded to chuckle at the sight of the dragon huffing to the question. “Let us get you some food shall we?”

“Zoë! Did mother not order us not to associate with that vile creature,” Hesperethusa, one of her sisters, spoke. She always was one to be the favored child of our mother, Pleione, a daughter of the ocean.

“Sister, I chose not to believe such hurtful things. Ladon is of good and means no harm to us,” her three sisters—Aegle and Erythea being the other two—only snickered at her reply like she had said something scandalous, maybe it was but who was she to care anymore. 

Zoë has spent years being closer to this dragon than she ever was with her true-blooded sisters. For that, she always felt distant and lonely from her kind. If there is one thing she never failed to do, it is to be an epitome for disappointment.

The menacing glare from her sisters made Ladon cower behind Zoë. It would have been amusing to see a 15-foot dragon be terrified of a few nymphs but she knows firsthand what her sisters could do. Gifted with the strength of a titan and the beauty of an ocean nymph, the Hesperides have their perks.

Aegle, with her raspy voice like rocks scraping the seashore, answered, “Ladon is a sole reminder of Queen Hera’s distrust for us. Have you no sense of respect for yourself?”

It was not a question, more-so it was her sisters’ way of pinpointing the fault in Zoë’s very being. The unworthiness to be considered related to any one of them. She is but a mere crack to the flawlessness of their character. With that, the three nymphs left Zoë to her own accord, knowing there would be nothing of value to discuss.

One of Ladon’s heads slowly nudged Zoe’s shoulders, which broke her from her thoughts, “So where were we? Right, let us get a nice hearty meal” 

  


* * *

  


In one usual afternoon, Zoë occupied herself with activities such as archery when she was not busy tending to the grove. To not disturb her sisters, she would set it out near the boundary. She had hung wooden panels on the tall branches of trees and embroidered them with vines to create circular marks as it reached the center. 

The stretch of the bow would calm her mind as her focus remains on her target. Her combat abilities helped her ward off heroes from getting to the golden apples. With every arrow she let go, she felt power and control. 

As she was packing up her things after her practice, the sun’s rays dispersed into pinks and oranges—fading into the horizon. Zoë finds a shadow laying beside a bush. Startled, she instantly pulls out her bow and arrow and aims at the intruder.

“Show yourself! I know what you seek and you shall have none of it,” it took a couple of seconds before a man slowly stood up from behind the bush, yet it was hard to see him clearly from the shadows of the vines surrounding him. 

“I mean no harm, my lady. Just passing by,” the man answered.

“Speak your name and leave before I pierce you with my arrows,” Zoë was not taking the man’s lies. She had seen it too many times. Heroes who seek immortality and would even dare to mock her by making her seem gullible to their tactics. They were fools. 

The man then took a tiny step forward as the golden hour light hit his face. Well-built and tall with black strands of hair. His appearance is of a boy who just reached past his puberty age—young… and familiar but his eyes tell a different story. “I am Hercules, a son of Zeus.” then the man stepped forward.

As if broken from a trance, Zoë recollected her fighting stance, tightening her hold on the bow. “Stay back! You were the one who fought with Ladon the other day aren’t you?” getting no answer, she shot an arrow straight to the man’s eye, which he effortlessly dodged. 

“Woah… Pardon for my directness, I just could not help but be enamored by your presence.” he said with a smile that you know he uses to charm girls into his way, but Zoë would not have any of that. Hercules, knowing his tactic did not work, proceeded then to reply, “Yes, it was me. I am on a mission sent by Hera to get her one of the golden apples.”

“Hera? Impossible. She would never send someone to acquire from her own property.”

“Hear me out, my lady. Grant me a bit of your mercy for I am indebted for my mistakes.” the hero exclaimed but wisely did not step any closer for fear of getting hit with another arrow.

“Then speak, why would I help you?” Zoë urged. Hercules saw this as a signal and told of his plights. How he was sent into madness by Hera that caused the loss of his family. He must now perform labors for the goddess as purification for his faults. It was horrific to hear how much suffering this man has been through. Every slight crack in his voice as he mentions a person who was dear to him only to be taken away, Zoë would do her best to comfort the other.

Hearing it all, the Hesperide lowered her bow slowly by her side as the hero continued to tell his story until nightfall. Zoë is stern as she is filled with empathy—a thing her sisters would shame her for. Yet, she could not help it. It seems ruthless not to cave in and help someone in need and it seems like this man in front of her is of pure and good intentions. Not the same greed as the past heroes that have come before.

“I could help you. My father is the Titan Atlas, one of the strongest beings, but as punishment, by Zeus, he must carry the weight of the sky,” Zoë did not know why she told that information, but her trust just came easily for the man in front of her. 

“If your father is sentenced to a severe penalty, how could he aid us?”

“That is where you come in. Ladon is too strong—” 

“I am not afraid”

“Well, you should be!” Zoë’s voice turned stern. “Ladon has bested you the first time. You are no match for him. This is why you must climb the mountains and deceive my father to do your bidding”

“You have wounded me, my lady. But I shall do as you said. Would you help me?” Hercules placed his hand on her right shoulder. Warm and full of callus. A hand who has saved many but has also been wrongfully made into madness. She felt a sense of inclination to the hero. Maybe she had finally found a friend—a companion she had dearly wished all her life.

“I have to woefully decline. My sisters and Ladon… Enraged, they would be if they find out about our plans” Zoë was stricken then she remembered one thing. She took off her white brooch from her hair. “As compensation, I give you this as my way of protection”

With her breath, the brooch transformed into a bronze sword and placed it on the hero’s hand, who was now carrying an awestruck face. “The name of this is Anaklusmos, a current that takes you by surprise.”

“A well-balanced sword, this is a generous offer. Yet, I am ashamed that I haven’t asked for your name”

“You can call me Zoë. Now you must rest, my hero. You have a dangerous mission that awaits you by sunrise,” she then picked up her bow and quiver. Before she could finally return to her sisters, the hero grabbed her by her hand.

“Can we meet again? Same place?”

“Hercules… Could I trust you?”

“By all means, you can Zoë”

“Then, we shall meet again,” a smile appearing on her face as she finally turns her back to him. _At that moment she felt the stars shine brightly upon them_

  


* * *

  


A week has passed by, and Zoë would wait by the boundary where she had met Hercules every single day. With hope that the hero is safe and that her father has not squashed him to death. She would sometimes hear the crunch of the leaves wishing that it was a sign that he came back for her but it always ended with her heart crushed.

On the 8th day, she was almost losing the motivation but gave it another shot to have this as her final chance to see him again—only for her sisters to block her way. Confusion struck Zoë but before she could ask Hesperathusa began to strangle her neck with her sharp nails digging through her soft skin. 

“How dare you let a man get away stealing from us?” Hesperethusa tightens her hold making it hard for Zoë to speak. As she began to feel some lightheadedness from the lack of air, her sister dropped her on the grass.

“I know... nothing of... what you are saying,” Zoë coughs in between her words, leading her throat to throb more when making a sound. 

“Liar! Father told us of a hero who had tricked him while carrying Anaklusmos in his hand.” 

“This is all your doing, and you shall answer for your sins,” Aegle exclaimed, her eyes bright with anger.

“My sisters, I must have dropped it without notice when I was training and he must have snooped in and found it. Please believe me!” Zoë bowed before her sisters’ sharp eyes. Her cries echoing the grove, waking Ladon from their slumber. 

Erythea crouched before her, lifting Zoë’s face towards the nymph, “We have warned you every time and you do not listen. Now your hero is busy taking all the glory for himself without you.” As the words came registering to Zoë, her face was painted with disbelief.

Her sister Erythea noticed the change on her face and added, “Considering that your loyalty lies elsewhere, we have decided to agree with your exile upon this land. You are forbidden from entering and will be stripped away from your duty as a Hesperide. Leave or we resort to brute force.” 

Zoë’s heart sank. Emptiness now drowning her. Eyes looking for Ladon hoping to find comfort and certainty to all that is happening. Even so, the dragon just stood still and watched. Realization dawned upon her that she is all alone in this fight and quickly made a run outside the grove’s boundaries. Tears streaming down as her vision blurs. She did not look back for it would only hurt more to witness the life and what little family she had lost. 

She kept running, not bothering where her feet would lead her. Apollo’s chariot soon disappeared from the sky as the darkness of night consumed the heavens. 

Anger and resentment pulsed through her. For betraying her sisters and her only friend, Ladon. For how she had placed her trust too easily to a hero. For Hercules forgetting about her so easily as she had trusted him. **She was then left with nothing.**

Zoë then vowed that he would pay for what he has done. She knows better now; all heroes are greedy and hungry beings. Disastrous and all the same with taking glory out of your misery. They deserve no mercy and forgiveness. Not anymore.

Exhaustion then finally takes over her as Zoë slowly lays down on the roots of a nearby barren tree. The coldness of the evening breeze was harsh on her body. 

_Looking up at the sky one last time—alone with not a star above her._

**Author's Note:**

> if you are reading this then it means you reached the end. comments are appreciated and thank you for taking the time to read this! it means a lot ^v^
> 
> also, go follow me on twitter: @niqhtshcde


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